Joint construction for concrete structures

ABSTRACT

A joint between preformed concrete wall and floor panels. The floor slabs, which have smooth bottom surfaces and rough cast upper surfaces, are positioned on the top of the wall panels with shims being provided to maintain spacing between the floor slabs and the tops of the wall panels. A molding strip of, for example, extruded vinyl is affixed to the upper end of the wall panels and engages the lower surface of the floor slabs. Fresh concrete is now poured to form the finished surface of the floor slab and the concrete flows into the space between the floor slab and the upper end of the wall panels, the molding strips retaining the concrete in place. Stopper plates may be provided in the voids of the wall panels to limit the depth to which the concrete flows in the wall panels.

United States Patent 1191 Morgan July2, 1974 1 JOINT CONSTRUCTION FORCONCRETE STRUCTURES [76] Inventor: Burton D. Morgan, 302 Aurora St.,

Hudson, Ohio 44236 [22] Filed: Mar. 2, 1972 [21] Appl. N0.: 231,293

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,060,853 5/1913 Peirce52/421 1,618,696 2/1927 Bemis 219,261 2/1968 Sweden 52/288 PrimaryExaminer-Henry C. Sutherland Assistant Examiner-James L. Ridgill, Jr.Attorney, Agent, or FirmOldham & Oldham Co.

[57] ABSTRACT A joint between preformed concrete wall and floor panels.The floor slabs, which have smooth bottom surfaces and rough cast uppersurfaces, are positioned .on the top of the wall panels with shims beingprovided to maintain spacing between the floor slabs and the tops of thewall panels. A molding strip of, for example, extruded vinyl is affixedto the upper end of the wall panels and engages the lower surfaceof thefloor slabs. Fresh concrete is now poured to form the finished-surfaceof the floor slab and the concrete flows into the space between thefloor slab and the upper end of the wall panels, the molding stripsretain- 3,359.022 12/1967 Russell... 3,645,056 M1972 Gerola n mg theconcrete 1n place. Stopper plates may be pro- 3,691 708 9/1972 Firnkas52/259 vided the Voids Ofthe Wall PanelS to the depth th'h tfl'th 11 1.FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 7 w 6 come e m e wa pane s 286,5836/1931 ltaly 52/323 7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 24 5O 52 I I r j {11;

2o o 9 Q18; 1 I2 22 34 PATENTEDJuL 2 1914 FIG.3

JOINT CONSTRUCTION FOR CONCRETE STRUCTURES The present invention relatesto a joint between preformed wall panels and floor slabs and, moreparticularly, to such an arrangement for forming an attractive andstrong joint between such panels and slabs.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide an improvedjoint between preformed wall panels and preformed floor slabs.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a joint betweenpreformed wall panels and floor slabs which presents an attractiveappearance.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such a joint which iscapable of compensating for minor variations in wall heighth withoutdetracting from the appearance of or weakening the finished joint.

As will become apparent in the following detailed description, the aboveand other objects of the invention are achieved by providing a jointconstruction for preformed wall panels and floor slabs which utilizes amolding of, for example, extruded vinyl, secured along the upper edge ofthe wall slab and contacting the lower surface of the floor panel, shimmeans for maintaining spacing between the top surface of the wall panelsand the bottom surface of the floor slabs, and stopper plates positionedwithin the voids of the wall panels to'limit the depth of concretepenetration into the panels, the joint being completed by the additionof fresh concrete to the upper surface of the floor slabs to form thefinished floor with the concrete penetrating into the upper portion ofthe wall panel voids andthe space between the top edge of the wallpanels and the floor slabs to fill the inner surfaces of the moldings.

For a more complete understanding of the invention and the objects andadvantages thereof reference should be had to the following detaileddescription and the accompanying drawings. wherein there is shown apreferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a floor and wall panel joint formed accordingtothe present invention, with portions of the structure broken away forclarity;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are fragmentary vertical sections taken along the lines2-2 and 33, respectively, of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section through a completed joint; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the molding used in forming the joint ofthe present invention.

The present invention deals with forming joints between wall panels andfloor slabs 12. The wall panels 10 are cored, having sidewalls 14 andinterior voids 16 extending downwardly from the top surface 18 of thepanels. The floor units 12 consist of precast panels 20 which havefinished lower surfaces 22 fonning the ceiling of a room and rough castupper surfaces 24 on which additional fresh concrete is poured to formthe finished floor. It will be noted that the precast portion 20 of thefloor slab is preferably approximately onehalf the thickness of thefinished floor structure. In erecting structures using such panels andslabs, the wall panels 10 are secured in position to suitablefoundations or lower floors. Molding strips 30 are then secured alongthe upper edges of the wall panels.

Although a precast wall panel is illustrated, the joint of the presentinvention may be used to connect floor panel refers both to precastconcrete walls and to other types of walls, such as brick or blockwalls.

The molding strip 30, illustrated in FIG. 5, may be formed of extrudedvinyl or other suitable plastic mate- -rial. The strip 30 has ahorizontal web 34 terminating in an upwardly projecting lip 34a, avertical web-36 terminating in a lip 36a, an intermediate portion 38connecting the webs 34 and 36, and a lip 40 at the upper V end of thevertical web 36. The intermediate portion 38 may be of any suitableconfiguration to provide an attractive appearance to the molding which,when installed, simulates a conventional cove molding.

The molding strips 30 are positioned at the upper edges .of the wallpanels with the vertical webs 36 of the moldings against the. outerfaces of the wall panels, the lip 36a forming a tight seal between themolding and the wall panels 10 engage the lips 40 of the moldings onopposite sides of the panels to temporarily retain the moldings 30 intoposition. Preferably, the clips 32 are provided at suitable intervals toretain the molding tightly in place until the joint has been completed.This may, for example, be at approximately eight inch intervals.

When the moldings 30 have been secured in position suitable shims suchas the blocks 26 are positioned on the top surface of the wall panel 10and the precast floor slabs 20 are then positioned on the shims, theends of the floor slabs being at least generally symetrically positionedabout the vertical centerline of the wall panel 10. The shims 26 are ofsufiicient heighthto maintain an opening 28 of approximately 2 inchesbetween the lower surface 22 of the floor slabs 20 and the uppersurfaces 18 of the wall panels 10. Of course, the shims may vary inthickness to compensate for irregularities of the heighth of the wallpanels 10. When the floor slabs 20 have been positioned in place thehorizontal webs 34 of the moldings contact the lower surface 22 of thefloor panels, the lips 34a forming a tight sealing relationship with thefloor panels 20.

In order to conserve on the amount of concrete needed to form thejoints, sealing plates 44 may be positioned within the voids 16 of thewall panels 10, the plates being carried by rods or wires 46 whichextend upwardly to the upper surface 24 of the precast floor slabs wherethe rods 46 are bent outwardly, as indicated at 48, to engage the uppersurface of the floor slabs 22 thereby retaining the plates 44 inposition.

At this time fresh concrete 50 is poured onto the upper surface of thefloor slabs 20, the concrete flowing into the portions 54 of the wallcavities 16 which are above the stopper plates 44 and also flowingthrough the spaces 28 between the lower surface 22 of the floor slabsand the upper ends 18 of the wall panels 10 to fill these passages andthe space defined by the inner surface of the moldings 30 and theadjacent portions of the wall panels 10 and floor slabs 20. The moldings30 possess sufficient strength to remain in sealing engagement with thewall and floor panels when the fresh concrete is forced into the regionbehind the moldings. The upper surface of the fresh concrete 50 issmoothed in the conventional manner to provide a level floor surface 52.

It will be noted that this construction provides both a strong joint andone having attractive appearance.

The concrete which flows through the spaces 28 and into the areasdefined by the moldings 30 strengthens the joint giving it additionalbending strength over that of a conventional joint. Sincethe moldingtightly seals against both the wall and lower surface of the floorslab,the appearance of the joint is not marred by uneven lines. Also, minorirregularities in wall heighth are masked by the molding 30 and do notdetract from the appearance of the finished joint.

While only the best known embodiment of the invention has beenillustrated and described in detail herein the invention is not limitedthereto or thereby. Reference should therefore be had to the appendedclaims in determining the true scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l.v A joint between a precast wall panel having interior voids extendingdownwardly from the top surface of the panel and at least one precastfloor slab in which the floor slab is positioned above the panel withthe lateral edge of the slab offset from the vertical centerline of thepanel comprising:

means spaced along the top surface of the panel to maintain a verticalseparation between the upper surface of the panel and the lower surfaceof the slab;

a plastic molding strip secured to the side of the panel at the upperedge thereof and in contact with the lower surface of the slab sealinglyconnecting the panel and the'slab and defining a region overlapping thebottom surface of the slab and a side surface of the panel; and

cast in situ concrete extending from at least the upper portion of thevoids of the panels to at least the top surface of the slab and fillingthe separation between the panel and the slab and entering the regiondefined by the molding, upper edge of the panel, and bottom surface ofthe slab.

2. The joint according to claim 1 wherein the upper surface of the slabis rough cast, the cast in situ concrete extending over the top surfaceof the slab to form a finished surface.

3. The joint according to claim 1 further including means to limit thedepth of penetration of concrete into the voids of the panel.

4.'The joint according to claim 3 wherein the last mentioned meanscomprises horizontally extending plates positioned within the void andhaving upwardly projecting rods extending to the top surface of the slabto retain the plates in position.

5. The joint according to claim 1 wherein the molding strip has avertically extending web adapted to contact the side of the panel, ahorizontally extending web adapted to contact the lower surface of theslab, and an intermediate web connecting the vertical and horizontalwebs, the vertically extending web extending vertically above itsconnection to the intermediate web.

panel, and the bottom surface of the slab;

1. A joint between a precast wall panel having interior voids extendingdownwardly from the top surface of the panel and at least one precastfloor slab in which the floor slab is positioned above the panel withthe lateral edge of the slab offset from the vertical centerline of thepanel comprising: means spaced along the top surface of the panel tomaintain a vertical separation between the upper surface of the paneland the lower surface of the slab; a plastic molding strip secured tothe side of the panel at the upper edge thereof and in contact with thelower surface of the slab sealingly connecting the panel and the slaband defining a region overlapping the bottom surface of the slab and aside surface of the panel; and cast in situ concrete extending from atleast the upper portion of the voids of the panels to at least the topsurface of the slab and filling the separation between the panel and theslab and entering the region defined by the molding, upper edge of thepanel, and bottom surface of the slab.
 2. The joint according to claim 1wherein the upper surface of the slab is rough cast, the cast in situconcrete extending over the top surface of the slab to form a finishedsurface.
 3. The joint according to claim 1 further including means tolimit the depth of penetration of concrete into the voids of the panel.4. The joint according to claim 3 wherein the last mentioned meanscomprises horizontally extending plates positioned within the void andhaving upwardly projecting rods extending to the top surface of the slabto retain the plates in position.
 5. The joint according to claim 1wherein the molding strip has a vertically extending web adapted tocontact the side of the panel, a horizontally extending web adapted tocontact the lower surface of the slab, and an intermediate webconnecting the vertical and horizontal webs, the vertically extendingweb extending vertically above its connection to the intermediate web.6. The joint according to claim 5 further including spring clip meansengaging the upper end of the vertical web and the upper end of the wallpanel to retain the strip in position, such clip means extendingtransversely of the wall panel.
 7. The joint according to claim 5wherein the concrete completely fills the region defined by theintermediate web of the molding strip, the upper edge of the panel, andthe bottom surface of the slab.